Brandon Allen’s Status Unclear for Rutgers Game Saturday

Share this:

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema is playing things close to the vest this week in regards to the status of his starting quarterback.

Bielema told the media on Monday Brandon Allen is day-to-day with a bruise in his throwing shoulder and does not know if he’ll be ready to play Saturday at Rutgers. Allen injured his shoulder on a touchdown run in the first quarter against Southern Mississippi.

Bielema says there is nothing structurally broken in Allen’s shoulder.

Backup A.J. Derby completed four of six passes in relief of Allen last Saturday for 36 yards. Bielema says they are 100 percent confident in Derby throwing the football and that they did not want to reveal anything in the playbook that they did not have to.

Derby will receive most of the first string reps in practice this week, with true freshman Austin Allen getting second string reps. Bielema also said he told the younger Allen brother to be prepared to play Saturday as the backup quarterback.

The quarterbacks will not be made available to the media this week.

Rutgers may also be without its starting quarterback. Starter Gary Nova suffered a concussion in the victory over Eastern Michigan Saturday. Nova had a career day against Arkansas last year, passing for 397 yards and five touchdowns.

Other injury updates:

Tight end Austin Tate and linebacker Otha Peters are good to go. They have both been out all year.

Wide receiver Keon Hatcher is good to go after suffering an injury week one.

Safety Rohan Gaines is still questionable with a knee injury but will practice this week.

Offensive tackle Grady Ollison left in the first half Saturday. He was in a boot Sunday and is now out of it. He is expected to be practicing by Tuesday.